Rebellion by J. A. Souders Guest Post & Giveaway

Hello, everyone!

Who among us isn't a huge fan of J. A. Souders's Elysium Chronicles? I can't even begin to tell you how much I love these books. When I first read Renegade several years ago, I fell completely in love with the Evie's enchanting underwater world. Now that the trilogy is approaching its exciting finale, I am thrilled to welcome J. A. Souders to The Nocturnal Library. 

She's here to talk about my favorite part of Elysium - the challenges and the possibilities of building a world underwater. 

I hope you enjoy her post. Make sure to enter the giveaway for the entire trilogy below.

A Darker Shade of Magic Blog Tour + INT Giveaway

My dearest nocturnal readers!

Today, I present to you Red London, a rich and marvelous city where magic still exists in all its glory.

Flowers and hearth fire, spiced wine and underneath, the scent of home.
A place of strength and beauty, laughter and music and the steady hum of magic.
Power in balance, and balance in power.
The palace arcs over the glittering Isle, the river like a ribbon of red light beneath.
The regal House of Maresh sits on the throne.
And a magician stands behind it.

Rereading Swan Song, a Guest Post by Kenny Soward + Giveaway

Merry Christmas, my darlings! I hope you're having the most wonderful time with your friends and family.

Today I am happy to welcome author Kenny Soward to The Library. Kenny recently released TINKERMAGE, the second book in his Gnome Saga and he's here to share one of his reading experienes... or rather two - 25 years ago and now.

So without further ado...

Rereading Robert McCammon’s Swan Song Twenty Five Years Later

By Kenny Soward

Whenever I read a book, I have the annoying urge to compare the author’s style to my own. It usually goes like this ... “Oh, they’re pretty good,” leading to “They need to work on this or that,” upgraded to “Well, this is actually pretty phenomenal,” and finally ending with “Ugh, I’ll never be this good!”

The Twelve Nightmares Before Christmas with Courtney Alameda: Nightmare Seven + Giveaway

Hello, nocturnal readers!

Today I am beyond proud to welcome the wonderful Courtney Alameda to The Library! Courtney's debut novel, Shutter (coming from Feiwel & Friends in early February 2015) scared the living daylights out of me, but at the same time, the depth of characterization and her marvelous worldbuilding absolutely thrilled me.

Courtney's far more eloquent than I am, so I'll leave you in her very capable hands.

Guest Post by Naomi Clark, Author of Undertow + Giveaway

Hello, everyone!

There are very few urban fantasy authors I truly believe in, and Naomi Clark is certainly one of them. Her Ethan Banning series is dark, gut-wrenching and gritty, but it's also beautifully written and very challenging for the reader - in the best way possible.

I am extremely happy to welcome Naomi to The Nocturnal Library.

Embers Blog Tour Review

Today I am beyond excited to be a part of the Embers blog tour and share with you a few details about this wonderful book. There are several giveaways accompanying this tour. One winner will receive a $100 gift card, another will receive a signed Temptation Series book set, including Temptation, Belonging & Forever, and ten lucky winners will receive an eCopy of EMBERS! Don't forget to enter, and please make sure to visit the other tour stops as well.

A huge thank you to Jenny and Danny from Kismet for organizing this tour and running things so smoothly.

Something Wicked Strikes: Guest Post by Ann Aguirre (+INT Giveaway)

Hello, my darlings!

It's the last day of Something Wicked Strikes. *sad face* It's been a wonderful month, I hope you guys had as much fun as I did. 

Thank you all for stopping by, reading, commenting and entering the giveaways.

As usual, I saved the best for last. Today I welcome one of my favorite authors and a dear, dear friend, the brilliant Ann Aguirre. I adore all her posts because she holds nothing back. Her candor is always so refreshing.  (Also, she often scares the living daylights out of me.)

Something Wicked Strikes: Tim Marquitz, Author of Clandestine Daze (+Giveaway)

Hello, nocturnal readers!

The Nocturnal Library has many friends (aren't I a lucky girl?), but very few of them have been with us as long as Tim Marquitz. Years ago, I accidentaly stumbled upon Armageddon Bound, the first in Tim's Demon Squad series and promptly fell in love with his anti-hero, his writing style and his unforgettable sense of humor.
Now, Tim has a new urban fantasy series called Clandestine Daze, and the prequel novella, Eyes Deep, has just been released. Having read it just days ago myself, I can honestly tell you that you should all find the time in your undoubtedly busy schedules for it. It's a-freakin'-mazing!

Something Wicked Strikes: Cherie Priest, Author of Maplecroft (+Giveaway)

Hello, nocturnal readers!

Something Wicked Strikes is slowly coming to an end. Only three more days remain, three more authors to support and celebrate.

Today I am thrilled to welcome the marvelous Cherie Priest to The Nocturnal Library. Her latest novel, Maplecroft, tells the story of Lizzie Border, the infamous maybe-murderer of her father and stepmother. Maplecroft is a Lovecraftian horror, a perfect read around Halloween.

Something Wicked Strikes: Guest Post by Mihir from Fantasy Book Critic + INT Giveaway

Hello, my lovelies! *cue evil laugh*

Something Wicked has always been about promoting authors we love and support, but this time around I wanted to do something different as well. In a blaze of inspiration (that's something that happens to me a lot, thank you very much), I decided to invite one of my favorite bloggers and hands down one of the smartest, kindest people I know, Mihir W. from Fantasy Book Critic. I've had more than a few conversations with Mihir since we've met, and I always took away something from them, be it knowledge, inspiration, or just an excellent recommendation. 

So today, I couldn't leave you guys in better hands. Enjoy!

Seventh Grave and No Body Blog Tour Excerpt & Giveaway

Welcome, nocturnal readers!

I am honored to be part of Darynda Jones' Seventh Grave and No Body promo tour. I reviewed Seventh Grave yesterday (read my review HERE) and now I want all of you to read it as well. Charley always brings joy and laughter into my life, which is precisely what I wish for all of you. 

Something Wicked Strikes: Jenn Bennett, Roaring Twenties + INT Giveaway

Hello, nocturnal readers!

I believe you all know by now that I'm a huge urban fantasy fan. There are many series I follow and many authors I adore, but Jenn Bennett's Arcadia Bell has a very special place in my heart. Jenn's new historical paranormal romance series, Roaring Twenties, is also a huge success. I was over the moon when Jenn accepted my invitation to participate in this event.

I'll leave you to Jenn and her choice of Halloween movies! Don't forget to enter the giveaway below.

Something Wicked Strikes: Heather Demetrios, Exquisite Captive + INT Giveaway

Hello, nocturnal readers!

Today is October 16th, which means that we've reached the second half of this event. Time really does fly, doesn't it? Please visit other Wicked stops as well:
Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings: The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters
Gin @ Gin's Book Notes: Erin Keyser
I am beyond proud to welcome the wonderful Heather Demetrios to The Nocturnal Library! Her book, Exquisite Captives, is one of my favorite reads this fall and I can't wait to share her post with you guys. So without further ado...

Something Wicked Strikes Trivia Challenge & Giveaway

Hi everyone! It's time for this year's trivia challenge! I promise to make it easy on you guys, the questions shouldn't be difficult to figure out at all.

Here's how this is going to work: You will have to answer to a series of bookish questions. Some I'm sure you'll know right away, and the others will be easy enough to Google. Each question will get you an entry in the Rafflecopter. All you have to do is  write down the correct answer under the right number and you're all set.

Oh, and you absolutely have to have fun. That is a requirement.

Review and Giveaway: The Bodies We Wear

Author: Jeyn Roberts
Series: Bodies We Wear, #1
Released: September 23 2014
Publisher: Knopf BfYR
Lenght: 368 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon

A streetwise girl trains to take on a gang of drug dealers and avenge her best friend’s death in this thriller for fans of Scott Westerfeld and Robin Wasserman. 

People say when you take Heam, your body momentarily dies and you catch a glimpse of heaven. Faye was only eleven when dealers forced Heam on her and her best friend, Christian. But Faye didn’t glimpse heaven—she saw hell. And Christian died. 

Now Faye spends her days hiding her secret from the kids at school, and her nights training to take revenge on the men who destroyed her life and murdered her best friend. But life never goes the way we think it will. When a mysterious young man named Chael appears, Faye's plan suddenly gets a lot more complicated. Chael seems to know everything about her, including her past. But too many secrets start tearing her world apart: trouble at school, with the police, and with the people she thought might be her friends. Even Gazer, her guardian, fears she's become too obsessed with vengeance. Love and death. Will Faye overcome her desires, or will her quest for revenge consume her?

The Bodies We Wear is my first book by Jeyn Roberts (although I own several) and I’m thrilled to have discovered an author with such a wonderful, strong voice. The story is in many ways deeply philosophical – it gives us plenty to think about as we put ourselves in Faye’s shoes and try to imagine what it would take for us to survive in her world.

Review: Red Blooded + Giveaway

Author: Amanda Carlson
Series: Jessica McClain, #4
Released: September 9th 2014
Publisher: Orbit
Lenght: 320 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

After Jessica's brother is kidnapped and taken to the Underworld, she will stop at nothing to get him back. But before her grueling training is finished, Jessica's power mixes unexpectedly with the circle and she's dropped into the Underworld without protection or her escorts.

Well, it’s official: when it comes to urban fantasy, Amanda Carlson can do no wrong. Her fourth book in the Jessica McClain series is her fourth success in a row, which is no small feat. Admittedly, it might be my least favorite of the four, but that’s only because the competition is so strong. All things considered, this is one of the strongest, most consistent urban fantasy series still being published.

Gates of Thread and Stone: Q&A With Author Lori M. Lee + Giveaway

Hello, everyone!

Today I have the great honor of hosting Lori M. Lee on my blog. Lori is the author of a fascinating debut, one I'm sure you've already heard very much about, and probably even read. If not, you can learn all the important details here and maybe even win a hardcover copy of the book.

Here are a few details about the book first:

Author: Lori M. Lee
Series: Gates of Thread and Stone, #1
Published: August 5th 2014
Publisher: Skyscape
Format: Hardcover, ebook
Buy: Amazon

In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

Fire and Ice: J. L. Murray, Author of Jenny Undead (With INT Giveaway)

Hello, everyone!
It may seem just a bit strange to you that I've invited J. L Murray, an urban fantasy and horror author, to talk about romance, but after reading her latest novel, Jenny Undead, I understood (as I hope you will) that she writes the best kind of romance, already established, strong and unconditional.
I hope you'll enjoy this post and I sincerely hope you'll give Jenny Undead a chance.

But first, here are all the other Fire and Ice posts aroud the blogosphere today:
Tressa@Tressa's Wishful Endings: Sarah M. Eden
Ali@My Guilty Obsession:Faith Sullivan: Heartbeat Series
Candace@Candace's Book Blog: Rosamund Hodge: Cruel Beauty
Ginny@Gin's Book Notes:Tess Thompson

Author: J.L. Murray
Series: The Thirteen, #1
Published: December 31st 2013
Publisher: Hellzapoppin Press
Format: ebook, 281 pages
Buy: Amazon

In a world ravaged by disease and chaos, Jenny has a secret. She and her brother were part of a gruesome experiment conducted ten years earlier in an attempt to stop the zombie apocalypse. If the rumors are true, her mother was the hated pathologist who released the disease in the first place, leading to the destruction of government, civilization, and life as we know it.

Despite the constant terror of the undead, Jenny is as happy as a post-apocalyptic girl can be. She has friends, she's good with a knife, and she has Declan Munro by her side. But when she hears her brother might still be alive and living with the Underground, a religious group hiding in the now-defunct subway, Jenny jumps at the chance to find him. She infiltrates the group to right the wrong she caused when she ran away, leaving him in that lab.

When she finds him, though, Casey is not at all what she expected. He's been turned. And the impossible happens when Jenny is bitten. She and Casey are dead, but they're not like any other rotters. Their minds are still intact. And there are others: Thirteen children survived the mysterious experiments, and it’s up to Jenny to find them and bring an end to the plague. But not everyone wants the chaos to end.

Between battling her hunger for living flesh and the all-encompassing rage that goes with it, and the realization that a killer is stalking both the living and the undead, Jenny has her hands full. Coming between a dead girl and the people she loves is a big mistake. Because if you can count on one thing, it's this:

You wouldn't like her angry.

When I was in college, I took a poetry-writing class. I've forgotten virtually everything I learned in the class, except this: When writing about love, you never say the word “love.” I'm not sure why, but I loved that idea.

Fast forward a decade or so, and I was writing my first full-length novel, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. I decided I was never going to be one of those writers. You know, the kind that write about love. Romance, to me, was a death sentence. If I wrote romance, I thought, I would never be taken seriously as a writer.

But as I wrote more books, it became glaringly obvious to me that something was missing from my writing. I was three books into my Niki Slobodian series and the thing that I heard most from fans was, “When is Niki going to find love? When is she going to be happy?”

My knee-jerk reaction to these questions was to be irritated. Love wasn't the point of the books, the characters were. But the more I thought about it, the more I understood that it was because of the character that love mattered to the readers. Love was part of life. It drives people in real life, it would only make sense that it would matter to fictional characters as well. That's when I realized that writing about love and romance wasn't selling out, it was adding another dimension to the story.

My most recent book is entitled Jenny Undead. It is the first book in The Thirteen series. I decided to try something very different with Jenny. Instead of grappling with finding love, not finding love, or fighting the inclination to love, the book starts out with Jenny already being madly in love. It's a zombie book, but it's really a love story. It's dark and gritty, but there is an intense undercurrent of passion throughout the book. It's one of the first books I've written where I didn't try to fight the already-established connection between two characters. Jenny and Deck love each other and everyone knows it, fictional and otherwise.

The thing is, readers have responded to Jenny Undead in a way I had not anticipated. I expected some complaints about the cursing (there's a lot), some squeamish reactions about the level of violence (it's excessive), maybe even some comments about how they feel uncomfortable with the fact that Declan could actually still be interested in Jenny after she becomes a “rotter.” I have heard none of those things. What I have heard is readers responding to the dark flavor of love in the book. People email me and contact me through my Facebook page to ask when they are going to see more of Jenny and Declan. What's going to happen to them? Why can't I just leave them alone and let them be happy for a minute?

I'm not a romance writer by trade. My books are actually pretty dark and intense. But shying away from love does a disservice to the characters and to the story. If a character is in love, then it needs to be written that way. Because, though the characters may be fictional, they need to feel real. Their hate needs to feel like your hate, their guilt your guilt, and their love needs to be felt deep inside the reader's guts.

But to return to my original analogy. When writing poetry about love, you should never write the word “love.” When writing books about love, it's fairly similar. You don't just say it's love, you have to earn that feeling in your readers. They need to decide it's love based on how you make them feel, how much you make them yearn for two people to be together. Jenny and Declan loved each other beyond death, and blurred the lines of who the real monster was. That's the thing about love, though. You see the person inside the monster, you find yourself loving the monster, and before you know it, you're doing monstrous things to protect them. It's love. No one ever said it wasn't messy.

About the author:

J.L. Murray grew up in Northwestern Montana in a rural logging and mill town. Like most writers, she started writing at a very young age. She overcame great odds before returning to college and rediscovering her love of writing.

J.L. lives in Hawaii where she now writes full-time, with help from her husband, the writer and editor John Q. Murray, and two sons. She writes the Niki Slobodian series, and is currently working on several standalone dark fantasy novels. She can be reached through her blog,http://jlmurraywrites.blogspot.com or her Facebook fan page athttps://www.facebook.com/jlmurraywriter.

GIVEAWAY TIIIIME!
I'm giving away two digital copies of Jenny Undead, gifted from Amazon. Please enter the Rafflecopter below and keep your fingers crossed. Good luck, everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fire and Ice: Guest Post by Christina Bauer, Author of Angelbound + Giveaway (INT)

Hello, friends, and welcome to the Fire and Ice blogging event.

First of all, here are the other Fire and Ice posts around the blogosphere:

Caroyln@C.M. Brown Blogspot: The Protector Series, He Came For Mine by C.M. Brown
Ali@My Guilty Obsession:Deanna Raybourn: Whispers of Jasmine
Candace@Candace's Book Blog: Huntley Fitzpatrick: What I Thought Was True
Alicia@Addicted Readers: Tracy E. Banghart: Shattered Veil


True, angst-free delicious romances are hard to find, which is a pity since they're my favorite kind.
Fortunately for me and those of you who appreciate the same things, there are still authors like Christina Bauer and books like Angelbound - original and cliché-free.
I'm thrilled to welcome Christina to The Nocturnal Library. I hope you'll enjoy your post, and make sure to enter the international giveaway below.

Author: Christina Bauer
Series: Angelbound, #1
Published: December 17th 2013
Publisher: Ink Monster LLC
Format: Paperback, 524 pages
Buy: Amazon

Eighteen year old Myla Lewis is a girl who loves two things: kicking ass and kicking ass. She’s not your every day quasi-demon, half-demon and half-human, girl. For the past five years, Myla has lived for the days she gets to fight in Purgatory’s arena. When souls want a trial by combat for their right to enter heaven or hell, they go up against her, and she hasn’t lost a battle yet.

But as she starts her senior year at Purgatory High, the arena fights aren’t enough to keep her spirits up anymore. When the demons start to act weird, even for demons, and the King of the Demons, Armageddon, shows up at Myla’s school, she knows that things are changing and it’s not looking good for the quasi-demons. Myla starts to question everything, and doesn’t like the answers she finds. What happened seventeen years ago that turned the quasi-demons into slave labor? Why was her mom always so sad? And why won’t anyone tell her who her father is? Things heat up when Myla meets Lincoln, the High Prince of the Thrax, a super sexy half-human and half-angel demon hunter. But what’s a quasi-demon girl to do when she falls for a demon hunter? It’s a good thing that Myla’s not afraid of breaking a few rules. With a love worth fighting for, Myla’s going to shake up Purgatory.

 My Favorite Romantic Hero: The Gamma Guy

by Christina Bauer

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’d like to share a bit about my favorite kind of romantic hero: the Gamma Guy. Prince Lincoln, the love interest in my YA fantasy-romance Angelbound, is one such dude.

Now wait, you might say. I’ve heard of an Alpha Male. A Beta Male. What’s this Gamma Guy stuff? Sounds like something you totally made up.

And in reply, I’d say: Nice catch, you! I did totally make this up.

Why would I do such a thing? I found it super-useful for me in my writing (more on that later). But before we tackle the Gamma Guy topic head-on, I thought it might help to level-set on some definitions of what it means to be an Alpha and Beta male in a romantic novel.

For the purposes of this article, an Alpha Male has:

1.      A wardrobe of leather. Black. And lots of it. Maybe some creative piercings, too. Definitely a few tattoos.

2.      A crappy childhood or ex-girlfriend. Deep down our hero is a nice guy, but most days, he’s a colossal dickhead.

3.      Not so much a smart IQ as a smart-ass mouth, which we readers love-hate with abandon.

4.      A hair-trigger for fighting, especially when it has to do with defending his lady-love.

5.      A blue collar job, or no job at all. Like running a biker gang or sketchy handyman business. How exactly does that translate into a paycheck? Who knows? Who cares? Somehow our guy always has all the kick-ass chicks, leather, and beer that he wants. Life is good.

On the other hand, Beta Males are known for being:

1.      Handy. A tire goes flat, the fridge goes on the fritz, or the carburetor stops carburating. Betas know what to do and do it without whining. And probably with their shirt off. Bonus.

2.      Smart. In particular, smart enough to know how to spell the words ‘female’ and ‘orgasm.’ Their alpha male counterparts aren’t always that clever.

3.      A white-collar job. Maybe something that helps kids or the terminally ill? Oh yeah, and they always look mega-sexy while doing it. Beta male territory.

4.      Polite and neat. Sock drawer? Organized. Thank-you notes? Sent. Evil step-mother? Still gets a card on her birthday, even though she’s Satan incarnate. All because it’s the right thing to do…and that’s spicy hawt, too.

And Now, That Thing I Made Up: The Gamma Guy

For me, the very terms ‘Alpha’ and ‘Beta’ are based on hierarchy. In other words, the idea that in any relationship, there’s always a dominant person. And if that’s your thing, good on you. But not all relationships follow that model, and in writing Angelbound, I really wanted to explore more of a partnership dynamic. [SPOILER ALERT] In the story, Prince Lincoln and our heroine Myla end up as a team, fighting and otherwise. In early drafts, I tried to think of Lincoln as an Alpha or Beta male. It really didn’t work. As in, suck-a-roonie.

Long story short, I found that the terms Alpha and Beta held connotations that someone should dominate. Sure, they’re just words, but I’m a writer. Words count. So, I started thinking of Lincoln as a Gamma guy, and it helped me form his personality and partnership with Myla.  To me, Gamma guys have:

1.      Some Alpha male traits. Gamma guys are strong-willed and natural leaders, but without being a dick about it. You know, in general. We all have our moments.

2.      Some Beta male stuff in there, too. Gamma guys are nurturing and definitely able to cry. They tend to be handy in surprising areas as well, like in the kitchen or with nun-chucks. Their sock drawers tend to be a mess, however, unless they have servants.

3.      True partnerships. And by partnership, I mean sharing the load on every-freaking-thing. For example, if a Gamma guy and his lady-love get into a battle, one of them doesn’t fight the baddie while the other cowers in a corner. The non-warrior will still bring their a-game by cheering on their partner, calling the cops, or—at the very least—throwing a shoe. You get the idea.

4.      A stalker-free zone. Sure, there are situations where a Gamma Guy will follow his lady around. But in general, if you’re in a partnership, you don’t feel the need to track the other person because you’re together all the time anyway. Stalking from across the couch? Not really happening.

On a final note, I want to be clear that I love me a good Alpha and Beta male story. But we all develop our preferences over time, and what I’ve come to define as the Gamma Guy is my personal fave. And I’ve been thrilled with how many Angelbound readers have felt the same way, too. Please know that your positive messages and reviews have given me the kind of virtual partnership that makes writing so worthwhile. Thank you.

And on that note, I’ll get back to writing more Gamma Guy stories. Fun!

About the author:

Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in Television, Radio and Film Production and English. Her day job is in marketing for companies like Microsoft, Cisco, and Brainshark, as well as founding her own software start-up, Mindful Technologies. Christina believes that, upon close examination of Tolkien’s text, it’s entirely possible that the Balrog was wearing fuzzy bunny slippers. Angelbound her first book with Ink Monster LLC.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorBauer

Twitter: @CB_Bauer

Blog: http://inkmonster.net/cbauer

Thank you, Christina! 

I loved Lincoln so much, you guys! I hope you'll all get to meet him soon.

And now, GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Christina has graciously offered to send out a signed copy of Angelbound to one winner, INTERNATIONALLY! I really want everyone to read this book. The Kindle verison is currently $3.99 on Amazon for us Euro folks, probably even less for US people, but I'm not sure. Still, it's a small price to pay for such an amazing read. If you don't win a copy here, make sure to get one anyway. :)

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fire and Ice: Jaime Lee Moyer, Author of Delia's Shadow + Giveaway

Hello, darlings!
It's time for our first Fire and Ice guest post!
Today, I invited Jaime Lee Moyer, author of the wonderful historical romance/urban fantasy/paranormal romance mix, DELIA'S SHADOW.
Jaime wrote a wonderful post about her two couples in Delia's Shadow and the upcoming sequel, A Barricade in Hell.
Enjoy it and make sure to enter the giveaway!

Author: Jaime Lee Moyer
Series: Delia Martin, #1
Released: September 17th 2013
Publisher: Tor
Hardcover, 336 pages
Buy: The Book Depository

A dark, romantic fantasy set against the backdrop of San Francisco devastated by the Great Quake.

It is the dawn of a new century in San Francisco and Delia Martin is a wealthy young woman whose life appears ideal. But a dark secret colors her life, for Delia’s most loyal companions are ghosts, as she has been gifted (or some would say cursed) with an ability to peer across to the other side.

Since the great quake rocked her city in 1906, Delia has been haunted by an avalanche of the dead clamoring for her help. Delia flees to the other side of the continent, hoping to gain some peace. After several years in New York, Delia believes she is free…until one determined specter appears and she realizes that she must return to the City by the Bay in order to put this tortured soul to rest.

It will not be easy, as the ghost is only one of the many victims of a serial killer who was never caught. A killer who after thirty years is killing again.

And who is now aware of Delia’s existence.

I've always said that everything I write contains a love story of one kind or another. Love stories, to my mind, are always between equals. It's all about the power dynamic. Delia's Shadow is no exception.

Everyone wants a soul mate and a person to share their life with. The difference between fiction and real life is that if fictional characters are very lucky, and their author is a hopeless romantic at heart, they get to find that perfect person.

Delia's Shadow tells the love story of Gabe and Delia, and the story of Jack and Sadie, threads of hope woven around a ghost story and a gruesome murder mystery. This is also a story about friends who are always there for you, who pick you up and help you go on.

Police Sergeant Jack Fitzgerald and Sadie Larkin are planning their wedding when the book opens. The two of them are completely devoted to each other, hopelessly in love and planning on spending the rest of their life together. They accept each other's quirks and faults, share inside jokes. Jack and Sadie are unconditionally the best of friends, even when they fight.

And they do fight; loud, passionate arguments that respect each other's point of view and end with their relationship as solid as ever. The two of them ARE soul mates and all their friends know Jack and Sadie are perfect for each other.

Circumstances throw Jack's best friend, Police Lieutenant Gabe Ryan, together with Delia Martin, Sadie's best friend from childhood. Gabe is best man for the wedding, while Delia is maid of honor. That's all it takes to throw Sadie's matchmaker instincts into high gear.

To say that Delia and Gabe resist Sadie's efforts to push them closer is an understatement. Both of them have scars and secrets, wounds that haven't healed. And both of them are grownups, determined to make their own decisions.

Gabe doesn't know if he's ready to risk falling for someone. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the fire afterward killed his beloved wife Victoria and their unborn child. Gabe agonizes over every decision he made that day, and the unanswerable question that gives him nightmares: If he'd been home and not on duty, would he have been able to save them?

He's mourned Victoria for nine years, making no attempt to move on. But something about Delia is different. Gabe finds himself attracted to her, an attraction that grows deeper as he gets to know her. Jack encourages him to rejoin the living, and reassures Gabe that Victoria wouldn't want him to be alone.

Delia lost both her parents in the quake that took Gabe's wife and child. Sadie's mother took her in, and her best friend became close as a sister. She is just as nervous about growing close to Gabe, but for entirely different reasons. Delia sees ghosts, a secret only Sadie knows.

A few years after the quake, ghosts drove Delia away from San Francisco. Now a mysterious spirit Delia names Shadow is haunting her. Shadow leads her back to San Francisco to solve the mystery of why Shadow never made it home one night. That mystery is linked to a serial killer Gabe and Jack are desperately trying to find before he kills again.

Delia is certain that Gabe will doubt her sanity for not only believing in ghosts, but for thinking herself haunted. But as Shadow reveals details of her murder to Delia and the evidence that Shadow was murdered, Detective Gabe Ryan has no choice but to believe.

Gabe and Delia end up working together on the case, each equally determined to see justice done. Along the way they become good friends who trust and respect each other, ask the other's opinion, and enjoy each other's company. Before too long, Gabe starts making excuses to spend all the time he can with Delia.

Not long after that, stalked by the killer, surrounded by danger and both of them terrified of the future they both want being taken away, Delia and Gabe realize they love each other. Admitting that to themselves is hard. Saying it to each other is harder still.

People have said to me that I wrote a very grownup love story. Since that is exactly what I set out to do, hearing that made me very happy.

That is the story behind the love stories in Delia's Shadow. It is not, however, the end. Gabe and Delia, Jack and Sadie, will be back for two more books.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say they still love each other.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jaime Lee Moyer lives in San Antonio with writer Marshall Payne, two cats, three guitars and a growing collection of books and music. Her first novel, DELIA’S SHADOW, will be published by TOR Books in September 2013. Her novels are represented by Tamar Rydzinski of the Laura Dail Literary Agency.

Jaime has sold short fiction to Lone Star Stories, Daily Science Fiction, and to the Triangulations: End of the Rainbow, and Triangulations: Last Contact anthologies. She was poetry editor for Ideomancer Speculative Fiction for five years and edited the 2010 Rhysling Award Anthology for the Science Fiction Poetry Association. A poet in her own right, she’s sold more than her share of poetry.

She writes a lot. She reads as much as she can.

GIVEAWAY TIMEEEE!

Jaime has generously offered a signed copy of Delia's Shadow to one lucky winner. This giveaway is US only, my dears, apologies to my international readers.
US peeps, enter the Rafflecopter and keep your fingers crossed.

a Rafflecopter giveaway